I would imagine the feature also comes in handy when companies collaborate with their vendors, as with Boeing. Instead of tearing the design apart to send the vendor just a section, they would be able to use the shield function.

Absolutely, Rob, and especially when a lot of what you're shielding--in this case, oftentimes complex math calculations--might not mean anything to some of the stakeholders involved in product development. In this way, you let them see what they need to see to understand the design or what they need to do to push it forward, but nothing more.

Nice article, Beth. Given how important collaboration has become, it's a nice step forward to see an application that allows the user to shield from view the parts of a project that not everyone needs to see. This is one of those steps that can help encourage collaboration.

Virtual Reality (VR) headsets are getting ready to explode onto the market and it appears all the heavy tech companies are trying to out-develop one another with better features than their competition. Fledgling start-up Vrvana has joined the fray.

A Tokyo company, Miraisens Inc., has unveiled a device that allows users to move virtual 3D objects around and "feel" them via a vibration sensor. The device has many applications within the gaming, medical, and 3D-printing industries.

While every company might have their own solution for PLM, Aras Innovator 10 intends to make PLM easier for all company sizes through its customization. The program is also not resource intensive, which allows it to be appropriated for any use. Some have even linked it to the Raspberry Pi.

solidThinking updated its Inspire program with a multitude of features to expedite the conception and prototype process. The latest version lets users blend design with engineering and manufacturing constraints to produce the cheapest, most efficient design before production.

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